NEW YORK, NY.-The Museum of Modern Art screens Amos Gitais 'Carmel' (2009) in a weeklong run from January 13 through January 18, 2010. The directors newest film, 'Carmel' combines fiction and nonfiction, and possesses elements of both documentary and feature filmmaking. 'Carmel' charts the directors course through Israeli history, and Gitai, who is only two years younger than Israel, becomes a lively symbol for the country itself. A child of the kibbutz, a young soldier wounded during the Yom Kippur War, and a sometimes testy but always honest artist whose works are more often welcomed abroad than at home, Gitai has led a life as dense, rich, and complex as the nation of his birth.

'Carmel' blends historical elements with themes explored in his other films, taking on a variety of subjects, and offering a diary of the directors concerns about politics, family, and present-day Israel. The film is an ode to Gitais familyand he is frequently present in it, as are members of his familywith a focus on the remarkably articulate Efratia, the filmmakers late mother. Memories of her (played in the film by actress Keren Mor) are expressed through letters from her read in part by Gitais wife, Rivka, and texts relating to Israel read by Jeanne Moreau. MoMA Presents: Amos Gitais 'Carmel' is organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, who also organized a 2008 MoMA retrospective of Amos Gitais work.